Giving Art Away – Desperation or Stupidity?
I often write about the perils of giving your artwork away for free, and how it hurts your reputation, your collectors and other artists.
It’s worth repeating. So I’ll nag you again. Don’t give it away for free!
Many artists give work away for free for purely selfish reasons – they are addicted to the pat on the back. And they don’t think about how it affects others.
When you freely give your work away and get nothing in return, than you have devalued your work.
You also devalue the work of other artists.
And this isn’t fair. I suppose it would be okay if all artists were hobbyists and none of them did it for a living. But think about all the artists who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to art school, only to be expected to work for cheap or free because so many others are giving it away? You wouldn’t see new doctors giving away free exams just for “promotional value.” So why should artists?
Recently we had some Brazilian art collectors come into our office to shop for their new art gallery in Rio de Janiero. They were nice guys, and they came packed with a load of cash to buy artwork. They were traveling all over Southern California, visiting lifestyle artists like Drew Brophy, Jim Phillips, Rick Rietveld, and so on.
In our studio they carefully chose $10,000 worth of art prints and an original painting to send back to their gallery. They had a few more meetings elsewhere, so we set a date for them to come back the next week to pick up their purchase. Since Brazilians always deal in cash, they didn’t pay us on the spot – they had to get money from the bank and pay when they returned to pick it up.
One week later, they returned and changed their purchase to $1,500. We were extremely disappointed and asked why. They said “So many of the artists that we met gave us free paintings and surfboards that we just don’t have the room for everything.”
One of the artists that had met with them the day before was a friend of mine. I called her and asked what they bought from her. “I just gave them a few prints for their gallery. I’m dying to have my artwork shown down in Brazil.” She said.
I asked why she didn’t charge them for the prints, when they were fully cashed up to buy art. “Oh, I didn’t know these guys were serious buyers.” She said. She told me she was desperate to have her art out in the world. “But if you’re desperate, wouldn’t you want to be paid for it?”
I’m all for giving something extra to your buyers. If someone is a regular Drew Brophy art collector, I always send them a little something extra as a thank you. I am happy to be generous with the people who support the arts.
But when an artist just gives their art away, they are making themselves appear irrelevant, and they hurt the rest of us who are actually running a business, not a hobby.
Think about this the next time you are faced with the excitement of having your art at a venue that isn’t paying for it.
Your art is worth the amount of money you get for it.
If you give it away, it’s worth exactly that – nothing.
Maria xxoo
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Tags: business of art, giving it away for free
Erika
17. Dec, 2009
Since these collectors saved loads of money by getting freebies from “so many artists”, they should be able to afford more of Drew’s work and/or now have the ability to store overflow art until they free up space in their gallery.
Bad move on the part of those desperate artists in giving their work away for free, thereby painting (pun intended) other artists into a corner…and weak logic and shady negotiating tactics on the part of the gallery owners.
Every business situation should be win-win, and artists must learn to apply common-sense business practices to their art; otherwise, their art is just a hobby, and they should call themselves hobbyists.
Maria Brophy
17. Dec, 2009
Hey Erika, thanks for your comment! I know that my frustration came out very strongly in this post, but it just KILLS ME to see some people making poor decisions that hurt ALL of us.
I believe in being generous, but at the same time, use your head!
PS: Liked your pun!
annie wildbear
17. Dec, 2009
I’ve gone to galleries in Laguna. They don’t know me. They don’t know if I have cash or if I’m flat broke. They still take the time to personally greet me and answer any of my questions.
Anyone could potentially be a ’serious buyer’.
There is no excuse for giving away art.
Gwyn Vermeulen
18. Dec, 2009
I absolutely agree! I don’t even give away my art to friends or family. The only time I occaisonally do is if it’s a gift and it’s only worth $30. Other than that there is no justifying it. Our art is of value and it must be treated that way.
aileen
18. Dec, 2009
That photo is hilarious!
Hmmm… This brings to mind a recent interesting situation. I was taking a screen printing class to gain more skills. One fellow student asked to borrow my screen (with my artwork) to print something for herself. It was really awkward but I flat out said “no”–with no explanation because I was so stunned that she’d even ask! I like to be the one to determine what I will give away for free.
Maria Brophy
18. Dec, 2009
I’m glad you like the Photo, Aileen! I was trying to convey the “giving it away” although I think the girl in the photo won’t be giving it for free!
Thanks, as always, for your comments!
Dennis Panzik
18. Dec, 2009
Hum, it does become tough cuz we all want exposure. Almost at any cost.
For instance I was just asked to do a logo for a biker tv show. It’s not a big show and only comes on like at 2 in the morning but I held back about being paid just yet. I had already done a cartoon for them which they animated for a segment of the show. Cartoons not really being my cup of tea but I felt it was worth the exposure. Name in the credits, bla bla bla… Plus there were other promising things that may had come about. Tho they didn’t ,which is why sometimes it is better to get paid. Maybe’s don’t pay the bills, hahaha.
Yes, I intend on charging something this time.
Maria Brophy
19. Dec, 2009
I’m not sure why you wouldn’t get paid for doing work. If you hired a house painter, I promise you’ll be expected to pay for it!
I have a strict rule that we don’t do anything for nothing. It just doesn’t make financial sense business-wise.
However, if we have a TRULY great promotional opportunity to provide artwork for something that will get us HUGE exposure, we’ll work it out with the company. We’ll lower our price somewhat if we have to, or we’ll have them pay us through their travel budget, or have their sponsors pay us with product that we want or need. There’s many creative ways to work it where everyone gets what they want.
If someone’s not willing to pay, I wouldn’t do business with them. (Unless it’s my mother, and she wouldn’t expect it for free, either!)
Laura
19. Dec, 2009
It’s what I call “bad feng shui”. It is an uneven exchange of energy and can actually bring more bad fortune to the person giving away their art! You tell the Universe that you aren’t worth anything when you do this! Now, when it’s given away in true charity or as a gift, that is entirely different of course.
Peace.
Maria Brophy
19. Dec, 2009
Laura, Bad Feng Shui – so true! It’s better to create an energy of abundance through the contribution of giving and then allowing others to give back (in this case, in the form of payment).
I agree!
Tim
19. Dec, 2009
Hi there! Love the blog, and a great post! Being a pleine air painter I get this all the time. People just dont seem to understand that it is my living, or that I have bills to pay just like everybody else. There are some awesome retoques to this though. Ask what they do for a living, and then see if they want to do it for free for you. Or ask if they wouldnt mind coming round and washing your car or clean your apartment once a week for a few months.
I also get people wanting to know how much the painting im working on is going to cost. After a few times, Ive realized that you should NEVER discuss prices on the spot. My very first painting I sold, I was talked down from 400 bucks to 200. Turns out the guy is one of the richest men in Sweden, founder of a large building company. The few times Ive done paintings without getting half up front have ALWAYS turned to bad experiences. But I NEVER give away anything for free out of principle. Problem is as you say, people like your friend there, andn my friends, who do work for very little or no pay, for the exposure. I used to be a graphic designer, and my friends who now freelance, have gotten caught up in that game. It really pisses me off!
Ill end with my favorite you tube video on the subject, Im sure its been posted before, but its so good!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE
Maria Brophy
19. Dec, 2009
Tim, I love that video! Yes, I’ve seen it before and I’ve posted it on an earlier article.
Your suggestions are great – asking someone to wash your car is hilarious!
Thanks for reading and commenting! (PS-I checked out your website – you do beautiful work!)
Tim
20. Dec, 2009
Thanks for the kind words Maria!
The one time I did a watercolor of someones house without the half up front. They seemed like such a nice couple, we drank wine and had snacks on their patio.
“They’re OK I thought, Ill give them a little bit of a discount and not mention the half up front”
did the sketches, got the approval, come final they didn’t like the color of the house any longer, wanted changes, and finally,
” We think its a bit expensive, we think you should frame it for that price too” I got back in my car, went home and changed it as best I could ( it was a watercolor!) and thought to myself
” If they mention anything about the price or try to haggle with me, I’m gonna keep the painting, its not worth loosing my cool or my integrity over these assholes.”
Well the woman started, but the husband stepped in and said they should pay the agreed price. I think he realized and got a bit embarrassed.
ON THE OTHER HAND people love to feel like they got a bargain. It makes them feel special. I know that if I go in to an electronics store to buy an expensive camera, and the guy throws in a memory card or something, Ill leave with a sense of accomplishment, and ill feel good about the expensive purchase.
Maybe its an idea to do something similar, when pricing artwork. Either over-quote, which is common in many businesses, or fx, frame it or give them a print or something. (of course, this is already baked in to the price) The whole idea being to give the client a sense of a bargain. Big con to that is that you’ll turn your nice gallery in to a bazaar, and if word gets out I can be talked down, then all hell brakes loose. Old clients will get pissed off, and you’ll spend all day bitching about a few hundred dollars. I dont think its worth the aggravation! I tell them that prices are fixed, but discounts are discussed if they make a multiple purchase.
Ive also toyed with the idea of dividing up the payments. Not everyone can just cough up a few thousand on the spot, but if the payments are split in to six months, then maybe. But then we turn in to used car salesmen, And thats something my daddy warned me against a long time ago.
i still stand firm on never saying anything about price on the street. Most of the time they are just asshats trying to figure out if I can make a living, or if they are too expensive. Most of the time they are not interested in purchasing. Sometimes Im tempted to jut grab an expensive figure and throw it out there to shut them up but its not a good idea. You never know who you’re talking too! (As seen in my previous post) The one thing Ive come to realize i that I am my brand. Whatever I do and how I act reflects directly on purchases. In a small town with only a few artists word get around VERY quickly and If I become an arrogant SOB , well then my days here are limited!
Oh to cap off, here is a another vid. I’m sure you’ve seen this one as well, but maybe there is some of your readers who missed it!
“Client Vendor Relationship In Real Life”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY